The present invention relates to an improved fabric, particularly suitable for mattresses and covers.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a fabric for covering synthetic material mattresses having high aesthetic characteristics and mechanical strength.
Conventionally, fabrics are hot- or cold-treated in order to give them particular strength characteristics, said fabrics being combined with materials of a different nature to give them an improved appearance.
The plasticized fabrics of the prior art consist of cotton fibres upon which a continuous layer of plastic material is laid.
This fabric is obtained by spreading and drying one or more vinyl resins thinned with solvents, thus realizing a vinyl material layer, strongly bonded to the fibres of the treated fabric.
The fabric plasticized with vinyl resins has a continuous layer of vinyl resin on the treated surface which makes it substantially waterproof.
This fabric has the fibre meshes occluded by resin and therefore it is not considered suitable for those uses where good transpiration characteristics are required.
Prior art fabrics having a plastic material lamina have a rough hand which is scarcely pleasant to the touch and an appearance that discloses the synthetic material covering, thus making the fabric hardly pleasant from an aesthetic point of view.
In addition, it was noted that the plasticized fabrics of the prior art entail further drawbacks resulting from a decreased resistance to fraying at the hems, or when they are particularly resistant, they have a high stiffening degree due to the presence of a thick covering in synthetic material.
Moreover, the materials currently in use for covering mattresses have fire-proof features not fully satisfactory in that the fire-proof substances tend to evaporate on coming into contact with liquids, thus developing noxious vapors.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,499 discloses a surfaced fabric having a thermoplastic surfacing resin which covers the face of the fabric and penetrates the interstices between the yarns and an impregnating resin which penetrates the yarns throughout the fabric, as well as said interstices, whereby the yarns of the fabric are held from substantial relative lateral slippage and separation of the surfacing resin from the body of the fabric is resisted.
The disclosed surfaced fabric has the drawback that the resins form a continuous layer over the face of the fabric and penetrate between the interstices formed by the yarns of the fabric, thus making the tissue waterproof.
On the other hand, not-impregnated tissues are not adapted as coverings for mattresses due to their lack of strength in comparison to an impregnated fabric.